I Just Care
by NaraTemari011
Summary: Why do you care about someone like me?" she asked him. "I don't know. I just care..." ShikaTema. Threeshot. Summary sucks, I know. Rated T for some language.
1. Phone Call

_**A/N: This story is a little random and a little out of character. I was talking with my friend some days ago, and we started talking like we were the characters. This fic is the result of that conversation mixed with boredom. So at first you may not understand it, but everything will be clear if you read it 'till the end. It's a little boring at first, but I had to put it so you understand what's happening. But it's actually gets pretty cute, even if I say so myself…**_

_**Disclaimer: So, as you all know, I don't own any 'Naruto' character, places (well I probably own some places in this fic), or anything else. It all belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.**_

* * *

**I Just Care**

It was night at the Hidden Leaf Village. Temari of the Sand had moved here several months ago. She decided to have some girl time tonight, so she invited Sakura, Hinata, Ino and TenTen to her apartment. They were in the living room talking about random stuff, when Temari's phone started ringing.

"Temari speaking" she said, answering the phone.

"_Yo, Temari! What's up? It's Kiba!" _Kiba said from the other line.

"Kiba? What are you doing calling me?" she asked.

"_I don't know. I'm bored" _he replied_._

"But aren't you on a mission with Sasuke, Shikamaru, Naruto and Choji?" Temari asked.

"_Yeah, we were, but we finished it about four hours ago. Choji, Naruto, Shikamaru and I decided to stay in the hotel for tonight, while Sasuke decided to go back to Konoha, since it's not far away from this little village"_

"Yeah, I know about Sasuke. He was here about an hour ago. And why don't you talk to Naruto?"

"_He's at the pool"_

"And Choji?"

"_Out eating…"_

"Shikamaru?"

"_Taking a nap."_

"O…kay…" Temari said. "Hey. Ino wants to talk to you"

"_Akamaru, don't!"_

"Kib-"

"_Akamaru!"_

"Hey, K-"

"_Akamaru, don't – you – dare!"_

"Kiiibaaa"

"_Don't you dare peeing on the carpet!"_

"Ki-"

* * *

_---The boy's hotel room---_

"AKAMARU! BAD DOG!" Kiba yelled, threw the phone on the bed, and chased Akamaru all over the hotel room.

"What is all that racket?" Shikamaru said, waking up from his nap.

"Pick up the phone, Shikamaru!" Kiba said, still chasing Akamaru.

Shikamaru muttered a little 'what a pain' and stood up, then jumped into the bed and took the phone. "Hello?"

"_Shimakaru?" _Temari asked. Ino had given her the phone.

"Yes. Who is it?"

"_I-it's Temari" _she said.

"What a drag…" Shikamaru muttered. He'll really didn't want to talk to her. "What do you want?" he asked her, annoyed.

* * *

_---Temari's house---_

"Uhh…hold on a second Shikamaru" Temari said, and put the phone on silence mode. "S-Sakura. Here. I don't want to talk to him" she said, handing Sakura the phone. "I can't talk to him…not after what he did…"

"Who is it?" Sakura asked.

"It's Shikamaru"

"That bastard! Don't worry Temari, I'll give him a piece of my mind!" Sakura replied, and put the phone back on talk mode. "No!" Temari yelled, but it was too late.

"Hello?" she said.

"_Who is it now?"_ Shikamaru asked.

"It's Sakura". A sigh could be heard from the other line.

"How the hell do you have the nerve to talk to Temari so calmly after what you did to her!"

"_Huh? What did I do?"_

Sakura gasped. "So you don't remember, you jerk!"

"_Uhhh…no?" _Shikamaru replied.

Sakura was so angry she gave the cellphone to Ino.

"You are such an inmature, bastard, lazy ass, jerk!" Ino yelled.

"_But…what did I do?" _Kiba said. Shikamaru had given him the phone.

"K-kiba?" Ino asked, and blushed at her comment. "I-I'm so sorry. That was meant to go to Shikamaru"

"_Yeah, I kind of figured…"_

Tenten took the phone.

* * *

_---Hotel room---_

"_Kiba, put Shikamaru on!"_ Tenten demanded from the other line.

"Ok, wait a second" he said, and put his hand on the phone. "Shikamaru, Tenten wants to talk to you!" he said.

"Ugh. I don't want to talk to anyone" Shikamaru replied, sitting on the couch where he was taking his nap.

"He doesn't want to talk to you" Kiba said to Tenten. You could hear Tenten hyperventilating on the other line. She was really mad.

"_Kiba, put on Shikamaru"_ Tenten demanded.

"But he doesn't-"

"_NOW!"_ Tenten demanded.

Kiba screamed a little. He threw the phone to Shikamaru, which hit him on the head. "Don't be a freaking drag, Kiba!" he yelled, putting his hand on his head and then taking the phone with his other hand.

"What is it?" he said.

* * *

_---Temari's house---_

"What is it? That's all you have to say for yourself? 'What is it'?" Temari, who now had her phone back, said.

"_Huh?"_ Shikamaru said.

"I can't believe you!" Temari said.

"_But I don't even know what I did to make you mad!"_ Shikamaru said.

Temari's eyes started to fill with tears, something you rarely saw on her face. "So you don't remember? Three days ago, returning from a mission? Walking back home?"

"……_nope_" Shikamaru replied.

Temari's tears fell down her cheeks. "You jerk! You asked me out!"

"_Huh? I did what?"_

"You asked me out and I accepted. We were supposed to go on a freaking date today!" Temari said, hung up the phone and put her hands in her face.

"Temari, are you okay?" Tenten asked her.

"Leave me alone!" Temari she replied, and went to her room. Ino, Tenten, Hinata (yes, she's there too) and Sakura all looked at each other with worried faces.

* * *

_**A/N: So yeah, here you got the boring first chapter. Sorry about that, but I needed you to read it so you would understand it. Next chapter will be up soon since this story is short, and I promise it's gonna be way better than this one. There's probably 1 or 2 chapters left…**_


	2. Feelings Revealed

**I Just Care  
Chapter 2: Feelings Revealed**

Shikamaru laid on the hotel room's couch, thinking about what just had happened. He really didn't remember anything about a date with Temari. He _did _remember coming back from a mission with her and Neji a few days ago, though.

Shikamaru got up, took off his flap jacket, put on a normal jacket, and then walked to the door.

"Where are you going, Shikamaru?" Kiba asked.

"Out" He simply replied, and then left.

* * *

---Temari's House---

An hour and a half had passed since the phone call. It was about 8:00pm right now. Temari had gotten over her little moment. She said it was nothing, but the other girls knew it was. She decided to forget about it, though, so the girls kept on doing the random stuff they were doing before the phone call. Then, someone knocked on the door. Temari stood up from the floor, where she and the other girls were talking, and opened the door.

"What do you want?" Temari said, her smile fading away. It was Shikamaru.

"I want to talk to you" he said. Temari looked back. The girls were glaring at Shikamaru. "There's nothing to talk about" she said to Shikamaru.

"Yes there is. I _need _to talk to you…in private."

Temari sighed and signaled the girls to go to another room. They all stood up and went to Temari's bedroom. Sakura didn't. She took Temari by the arm and pulled her away from Shikamaru. "Are you going to be alright?" she asked Temari, who nodded in response.

"Okay, but if you need us, you just have to yell" Sakura said, and then left. Temari signaled Shikamaru to come in. He did, and closed the front door.

"What is it?" Temari said.

"Uh…I wanted to talk to you…and give you something" Shikamaru said, putting a little (but not _too _little) sized box in Temari's sofa.

"Well, you can take your words and your something somewhere else" Temari said, crossing her arms.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "I just wanted to say-" Shikamaru said, and from there you could only hear him mumble.

"What was that?" Temari asked.

"I said that I just wanted to say that-" Shikamaru said, mumbling the last part again.

"I can't hear you" Temari said.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry!" Shikamaru almost yelled. Temari laughed a little in her mind at Shikamaru.

"Well…thank you" Temari said, not knowing what to reply.

"So…yeah. I just wanted to tell you that" Shikamaru said.

"So you came all the way here just to say that you were sorry?" Temari asked, a little surprised. Shikamaru made a 'yeah, whatever' expression.

"So…yeah. I should leave now" he said, and with that, he left. That's when Temari's curiosity started to rise. She sat down on the sofa, next to the box. She untied a little ribbon the box had, and opened it to find...

"_A sand flower?!"_ Temari thought, shocked. _"Where the heck did he get this? I mean, you can rarely get these flowers today. And you can only find them in the Hidden Sand Village!"_

"A-are you okay, Temari?" a voice asked her. Hinata was standing in front of her with the other girls. Temari nodded. She, then, noticed that there was a card that came with the flower. She took it. Her name was written in the envelope. She opened the envelope to read the card.

"_Temari:_

_I am so sorry for what I did to you. I hope you can forgive me. I forgot all about…you know what. In my defense, I was on a mission. I've been so tired lately. My mom keeps on ranting to me about random things when I'm home, and now I finally had the chance to get out of my house to do the mission but get big-mouth on my squad. Sincerely, I really don't know how Hinata can love a guy like Naruto. Anyway, I promise that I will make it up to you somehow, because I don't want to lose you…_

_Love, Shikamaru."_

Temari smiled while reading this. It seemed like he was reallysorry. She put the card back in the envelope.

"What happened, Temari?" Ino asked.

"Oh, nothing" Temari replied, her smile still on her face.

"So what do you say we continue our conversation?" Temari suggested, and she and they girls sat down on the floor again.

* * *

About an hour later, Temari's cellphone rang again.

"Hello?" she said, picking up.

"_Temari! Thank goodness you picked it up!"_ Kiba yelled from the other line.

"What is it?" she asked him.

"_Do you know where Shikamaru is?"_

"Why would you ask that to _me_?" Temari replied.

"_I don't know. I mean, he told me about…2...or maybe 2 and a half hours ago that he was going out, but he still haven't come back to the hotel."_

"_That's strange"_ Temari thought. And then it hit her.

"Kiba. I think I know exactly where he is. I'll call you later, okay?"

"_Okay, bye"_ Kiba said, and hung up.

"Girls, I have to go out" Temari said, standing up.

"Where to?" Tenten asked her. Temari smiled, ignoring Tenten's question. "If I'm not back in an hour, call me" Temari said, and the other girls nodded. Temari put her cellphone on her dress' little pocket, and then left.

* * *

Temari walked around the village. She was on a place right now that was the 'barrier' between the Hidden Leaf Village and the next village.

"What the heck would Shikamaru be doing _here_ alone at night?" Temari asked herself, walking, when she finally saw Shikamaru. He was sitting on the floor, his back in the trunk of a tree. She walked quietly, hoping he hadn't notice her.

"What is it Temari?" he asked, not even looking back.

Temari transformed herself to Sakura. "It's Sakura" she said, stopping a few feet away from Shikamaru. Shikamaru looked at her, and then stood up. "Oh really?" he said, walking to where she was. Temari was getting nervous. "Yes"

"I know it's you Temari" Shikamaru said.

"Shikamaru. It's me, Sakura!" she insisted.

"Oh really? Then why did I saw a girl in black clothes, with four ponytails, a red scarf as a belt and a giant fan transform into Sakura just now?"

"Okay, fine. You win" Temari said, breaking the transformation jutsu.

"You didn't had me even for a second there" he said with a smirk. "Why did you come?"

"To make sure you were all right. Kiba told me you still hadn't returned to the hotel, so I figured you would be here, and decided to check on you. But since I already did, I guess I should leave now" Temari replied, and then turned around to leave.

"No!" Shikamaru yelled, and held her arm. Temari turned around with a confused face. "I-I mean…" he said, letting go of her arm. "D-don't you want to stay for a while?" he said, and signaled her to sit with him on the trunk of the tree. "O-ok" she replied.

They both sat at the trunk of the tree. "Wow. There are so many stars!" Temari said, looking at the sky. "You don't see them like this in the Hidden Sand Village…"

Shikamaru smiled. "That's why I love this place. I love to come here at night. All my troubles just…go away…" he said.

"How did you know I was here?" Shikamaru asked.

"I really don't know. Maybe something told me you were here" Temari replied.

A couple of minutes passed, and there was only silence, the sounds of the night creatures, and the sound of the wind.

"Why did you really came here for?" Shikamaru asked out of the blue.

"What do you mean?" Temari asked, with a confused face.

"I know you didn't come 'just to check on me'" Shikamaru said. "Why did you _really _came?"

"I already told you…" Temari replied.

"I know there's more to that…"

"No there isn't…"

Shikamaru smirked at Temari. "Shikamaru, I consider you as my _boy _best friend, so I just wanted to check on you…" Temari said as a reply to that annoying, yet cute smirk.

Shikamaru sighed. "You don't want to tell me? Fine…I'll just poke your nose until you decide to tell me the truth"

Temari blushed a little. "What?" she asked.

"Poke, poke…" Shikamaru said, poking Temari's nose.

"Shikamaru!" Temari said, but couldn't help but smile at Shikamaru's action.

"Poke, poke, poke…"

"Shikamaru, stop that!"

"Poke, poke, poke, poke…"

Temari let out a frustrated sigh, and Shikamaru stopped poking her nose. "Okay, if you don't want to answer that, answer this: Why are you blushing?" Shikamaru asked.

"What?" Temari said, a little alarmed. "I am not blushing!" she said, and turned away.

"_Damn it, Temari! Stop blushing!" _she thought.

"Temari…" Temari turned around again, facing Shikamaru.

"What?"

"Why are you blushing?" he asked again.

"I…I don't know…" she replied. She looked up at the sky, and Shikamaru did the same.

"Hey, those stars look like they're forming the Leaf Village Symbol!" Temari said, pointing to where they were.

"Yeah. And those one look like the Sand Village Symbol!" Shikamaru replied.

"Yeah! But…why are they so close to each other?"

"…beats me…" Shikamaru replied.

Temari stood up. "I-I really should leave…the girls are probably wondering where I am". Shikamaru stood up too.

"Yeah, and the guys are probably wondering where I am, too. They can wait…" he replied. Suddenly, it started raining. "Oh, what a drag! It's raining!"

"Don't worry. I can cover us up with my fan" Temari said.

"No, it's alright. I like it when it rains" he replied.

"Wow. I had never felt or touched rain in my life" she said, extending her hand. "Actually, I had never even _seen _rain in my life"

"Really?" Shikamaru asked. Temari nodded. "It never rains on the Hidden Sand Village…"

"That explains it…" Shikamaru replied.

"So why did you _really _came here for?" Shikamaru asked again, smirking. Temari laughed. "You're not gonna stop, are you?" she said. "Nope" he replied.

"Well I am not going to tell you, even though there isn't another reason" Temari said.

"Oh, yeah?" Shikamaru said. "Then what if I do this?" He took Temari's right hand and intertwined it with his. Temari blushed again. "Shika…" she said.

"Still not telling me?" Shikamaru said, and put his other hand around Temari's waist.

"Nara!" Temari almost yelled. Shikamaru smirked, and looked up. Then, he got nervous. "Uuuuhhh…I gotta go…sorry" he said, and then left as quickly as possible. Temari was a little confused, until she looked up and saw the reason of Shikamaru leaving. There, on a branch of the tree, was a mistletoe. She blushed violently, and then left too.

* * *

_**A/N: Yay! Finally finished chapter 2! Now this story only has 1 chapter left. The final chapter is coming soon… (But not as soon as this one!) Review please!**_


	3. I Just Care

**I Just Care  
Chapter 3: I Just Care**

The next day, Temari woke up. And boy, did she sleep well that night. She couldn't stop thinking about the events of yesterday. Especially the mistletoe part…that was a little embarrassing. But still, she was happy that Shikamaru had apologized. She smiled as she looked around, and saw that she was in her living room, in her sleeping bag, and Hinata, Ino, Sakura and Tenten were in their sleeping bags, still sleeping. She didn't even remember that the girls were at her place. She stood up, and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. After she came back to the living room, she found all the girls waking up too.

"Good morning everyone!" Temari yelled. Everyone looked at each other, some with sleepy faces, and other with confused expressions.

"Boy, boy. Aren't we happy today?" Sakura said with a sleepy face, rubbing her eyes with a smile on her face. Temari smiled back, blushing very lightly.

"So…anything special happened last night. Like hand-holding, flirting or…a kiss perhaps?" Ino asked. Temari smirked at her. "Like I'd tell you" she said with a joking expression.

"So it _did _happen?!" Ino said. "No…well…I mean…" Temari said, but she was cut off with the sound of her cellphone ringing.

"_Who could it be at this time?!" _Temari thought, but then looked at her clock. It was 11:30am. Anyway, she picked it up.

"Hello?" she said.

"_Temari? It's Shikamaru"_ Shikamaru said from the other line.

"Oh. Good morning" Temari greeted, putting her free hand in the back of her head. They other girls looked at each other smiling.

"_Uh…Temari. There was…something last night I didn't get to do…" _Shikamaru said.

"W-what?" Temari replied, her cheeks turning red.

"Well…I didn't get to…ask you out again" he said.

Temari's eyes were wide-open now. "W-what?!"

"_I promise that I won't do anything stupid this time, Temari. You know I am very sorry…Would you like to go out with me tonight?"_

Temari thought a little about it, but then finally replied. "Y-yes"

"_Cool. See you tonight in front of Ichiraku" _Shikamaru said.

"W-wait! At what time?" Temari asked, but Shikamaru had already hung up.

Temari smiled to herself. "Who was that?" Ino asked her, poking her arm with her elbow. Temari glared playfully at Ino. "Oh…like I'd tell you!" Ino faked an offended look at Temari again…

O.O.O.O.O.O

It was now 6:00pm, and Temari was in a bench that was in front of Ichiraku Ramen Bar. She brought a book, because she didn't really know at what time was Shikamaru coming, if he didn't forget this time.

"Hey there my beautiful Temari!" someone said to Temari. She looked up, and then blew opened her fan and threw a great amount of air, knocking the person against a wall.

"What the hell was that about?!" he asked her, and she smirked. "I know you aren't the real Shikamaru, _Kiba!_"

"Damn, how did you find that out?" Kiba said, transforming back to himself.

"Well, the 'slight'simple fact that Shikamaru would _never _call me '_my beautiful _Temari'" Temari replied, still smirking.

"Wow. I sure should remember never to do something that makes you angry" the _real _Shikamaru said, walking towards Temari.

"Hm…just call it payback…" Temari said.

"What for? I never did anything to you!" Kiba said, standing up in pain.

"I know you haven't done anything to _me…" _Temari replied, still smirking. Kiba didn't get it, and Temari didn't have any intention of explaining it to him.

"How am I supposed to get home now?" Kiba asked, since he almost couldn't move. "Go with Akamaru"

"He's not here!" Kiba yelled at Temari.

"Well then, I'm sure Ino can help you, so give her a call" Temari said, her smirk still on her face.

"Let's go…" Shikamaru said, and started walking away, with his hands on his pockets.

"But weren't we going to Ichiraku?" Temari asked, and Shikamaru looked back. "I never said that…" he replied, and signaled Temari to follow him.

O.O.O.O.O.O

About an hour passed, and Temari and Shikamaru walked to the same place they were last night. Temari noticed that there was a blanket on the floor, so apparently Shikamaru had been here today. They both sat down on the blanket.

"Sorry for bringing you here again" Shikamaru said.

"Don't worry about it. I'm starting to love this place…" Temari replied, looking at the stars.

"That's good then" Shikamaru said, smiling, and looking at the stars as well.

"S-Shikamaru?" Temari said, and Shikamaru looked at her. "What?"

"Why did you ask me out in the first place?" Temari asked him. He stood up, and smiled "Well, at first I didn't understand it myself…" he started, and took Temari's hands to help her stand up, which made her blush. "…but I've come to a conclusion after thinking a lot about it…" Temari looked at him, as if saying 'go on…'

"I asked you out the first time out of the blue, and since we were coming back from a mission, I was sleepy and stuff, and it made me forget about it. So I apologize again for it…" Temari looked at his eyes as he talked, and then smiled.

Shikamaru looked up to the sky, still holding Temari's hands. "But this time I meant it, as you can see. If not, I wouldn't have asked you out again. The reason why I did…" Shikamaru continued, but then stopped and looked at Temari, who looked back at him. Shikamaru then did the one thing Temari never thought he would do. He let go of her hands, and put his hands around her waist. After a couple of seconds, he pulled Temari's face close to his, close enough that he could hear her breathing, and their noses touched. She put her hands in his shoulders, trying to make him back off a bit, but failed. Temari breathed nervously, eyeing Shikamaru's face. "…the reason why I did it…" he said again, eyeing Temari's face, and then smiling. "It's because I love you" he finally finished, and before she knew it, he pressed his lips against hers. She was shocked at first, but then she couldn't help herself but to close her eyes and return the gesture. She put one of her arms around his neck, and her other hand on the back of his head, as if saying that she didn't want to let go. She then pressed her lips more tightly to his. A hard, yet soft kiss. Temari's heart was pounding so hard that Shikamaru could hear it, and she felt butterflies on her stomach. After a couple of more seconds, they pulled away, but only breaking the kiss. Their heads were still so close that they could hear each other's breathing, and their hands were on the same positions as before. But then, Temari's face filled with tears.

"W-what's wrong, Temari?" Shikamaru asked, a little worried. Temari smiled at him, tears rolling down her cheek. "I love you too, Shika" she whispered, and then pulled in for another kiss, which he returned gladly. After a couple of seconds, they pulled away again, still on the same positions.

"But why? Why do you care about someone like me?" Temari asked, looking at Shikamaru's eyes.

Shikamaru looked back at Temari. "I don't know. I just care…" he replied, and then they both smiled.

After that, they spent almost all the night in that place, just looking at the stars and spending time together. Yep, this was definitely the start of something beautiful…

**Finally finished it! Hope you enjoyed it! Man, I love happy, romantic endings…**

**I don't know if this story will have a sequel (since the ending kind of lets you wondering…), so I don't promise anything…sorry. I have a lot of more story ideas, but nothing fits for a sequel so…**


End file.
